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September 02, 2003
Road Trip, part Dva
Seeing my old roommate Evan at the airport was a welcome moment, as it felt like we still lived together. I do miss him, as he was always a good bedrock to my flightiness. Having gay roommates with great fashion sense is useful, but so is unflappability. We went and drank cheap beer at a bar he likes. The beer was only two bucks each. Two bucks for a beer. Two bucks. Points for Texas, really. Then I went to pick up the car. Two Mercedes, parked next to each other. “Are you sure you need the 500S, rather than the svelte SL convertible? What? I can’t seem to hear you through all the auto lust static, Uncle Terry…” I would obviously prefer the convertible, but if I’m tortured into the outrageously luxurious Mercedes 500S, I guess I’ll just have to suffer. This car is pure luxury, with features more plentiful than my nose hairs, and more leather than a Tom of Finland book. The only problem with that much technology is the manual. It was almost as thick as my calculus book, and I never figured out what this one button meant, even though I searched the entire book. We met up with my friends Aaron and Sam. Aaron is now a certified Apple Genius and sorted out my iPod problems, and Sam does scary plant voodoo. Who knew pineapple tops grow pineapples? They also have nelly little dogs, but I didn’t step on them.
On my way to Austin, the gypsy curse hit again. I’m driving through a serious downpour, and the instrument panel goes boink. I had no idea things actually could make that sound, but it did. Speedometer, cruise control, gas gauges, everything was dead. Made emergency stop in rain, verified that dummy gauges still worked, read through the fuse section of the manual. They really didn’t design these cars for self repair, so I had to take it in to the dealership. The mechanic agreed that the dash was fubar’ed, so I made plans to have it fixed in Dallas, as the ignorance of the actual speed in a Mercedes sounds like a good excuse.
Enroute to Clovis, Omar notifies me that I’m having all sorts of problems at my property in Lubbock. Gas line is leaking, the water heater has to be updated, and one of my tenants has West Nile virus. Great. After all the nice income, I guess I occasionally have to have costs, although this one is going to hurt. It’s better than getting West Nile, that’s for sure. Drove to Clovis, spent time with Mom, and had a really good time. As I get older, I am maturing in my attitude about family. No matter the disagreements and problems, they’re family. Biology creates family so that there will always be someone to get on your last nerve, yet be there when you have no nerves left. I bought and installed a DVD player, and we puzzled through the setup. I’m going to get her Netflix, as I love having it.
Lubbock was too abrupt, and I’m really disappointed. I had to deal with all the problems and not enough time to spend with friends, although I was able to lunch with Tye, Rox, Andy, and Anthony. I was also able to clean up my garage, something that was tremendously overdue. Not to gross anyone out, but I found my ponytail in a box. I must have freaked out after it was cut off, and it’s been sitting in a box ever since. If I ever wanted to make a MiniMe, I guess I could use that pile of hair. Yup, put it back in the box, and I’m not going to tell the roommates where it is.
Hauled ass to Dallas, dropped off the car at the dealership, and chilled out with the family. Bonnie scored me some tickets to Six Flags, where Ernest and I had the run of the park. The heat reached 105, and school was already in session. Basically the park was occupied by the two of us and quite a few bored employees. We rode every major new rollercoaster in the space of two hours. Twice. This is normally a pleasurable experience, except when there is no delay between rides. We finished the trio of superhero rides and realized that if we even turned our heads rapidly, we would barf everywhere. We cautiously made it back to the car, slowly climbing into his SUV. It was a bit humbling to have been felled after only two hours, but at least we didn’t go past our limits and blow chunks on one of the rides.
My nieces are growing up nicely, if a bit too rapidly for me. They were born when I was still in high school, so I am having a difficult time accepting that they are driving, dating, and almost taller than me. The last one is most insulting, as I was hoping they would take after their short uncle rather than either of their mutant parents. I encouraged them to smoke as babies in the vain attempt to stunt their growth, but their infantile thumbs couldn’t ignite the lighters. Driving with Erin was an exhilarating experience, as it definitely reminded me of my own mortality. However, I love seeing my nieces, as they are finally at the age that we can have fun. As babies, they are pretty much useless to me, except as reminders that birth control is a good thing. However, both of them are rapidly becoming amazingly beautiful, intelligent women who will drive the boys crazy.
That evening, Dave and Erin Leamon met us in their new Saab convertible for dinner. They satisfied my premise that only old people have sporty cars, as Dave wears Grandma Glasses. They are so thick that you can see his soul and the soul of the person behind him. Ernest suggested a martini bar in Arlington. Call me a snob, but when we pulled into a strip mall, I was cringing, thinking that they probably had gravy shots. However, it was a really wonderful place where I had the opportunity to hang with all four of them. The final day was spent watching my nieces play volleyball. Unlike the hellishly unskilled sport I participated in as a child, my nieces have genuine skill.
The final leg of the trip blog will be tomorrow.
Posted by G at September 2, 2003 10:59 PM
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